Karma is frightening

Would you like it if your life were a lottery? You show up and buy a ticket, but after that, everything is beyond your control. 

And what if life were nothing like that? 

Coming into contact with the concept of karma (Link: The theory of karma) has been a life changer for me – life is no longer a random game of chance. To accept the workings of karma means to accept ultimate responsibility for how one’s life turns out. In other words, if my life turns out well, then it’s a pat-on-the-back for me – well done, I get all the credit. 

It also means that if I mess up, it’s my fault – not my parents’, not my friends’, not strangers’, not the media’s, not my enemies’.  

In a way, that’s frightening. 

If my life were marked with unhappy occurrences, it would mean that I had, through ignorance and foolishness, acted in ways that cast the seed for these occurrences. And I would now be tasting the fruit. 

Maybe it’s easier to be able to blame someone else. Maybe it’s easier not to have to take responsibility for one’s own thoughts, words and actions – or only take responsibility when the outcome is good. 

Maybe it’s easier if life were like a lottery? 

Because if you could have control over your own life, then *shudder*, it might entail a bit of hard work and individual responsibility for your actions past and present. 

Yet in a way, that’s liberating. 

Maybe it’s easier if life were like a lottery, but would it be better? Because if you always only reap what you sowed, then life is always fair – you always only get what you “deserve”. 

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/amani1306/ / CC BY 2.0

Now that makes life a game we actually have a chance of winning. So clear the weeds and plant the seeds for your happiness.